Abstract

Many saproxylic beetles do not feed on wood directly but on fungi colonizing the wood. The Volume of decaying wood has decreased drastically in Scandinavian managed forest landscapes in recent years, so improved knowledge on the interactions between beetles and wood-decaying fungi is important for the long-term persistence of these trophic partners. Sporocarps of polypores are known to emit volatiles attracting both fungivorous and predatory beetles, but it is unknown whether some beetles are also attracted to odours from the mycelia. The aim of this experiment was to test the attraction of beetles to volatiles from the sporocarps and mycelia of wood-decaying fungi. In a randomized block design, six substrate types: Fomitopsis pinicola sporocarp, F pinicola mycelium-infected wood, Fomitopsis rosea sporocarp, E rosea mycelium-infected wood, Phellinus chrysoloma sporocarp and Phlebia centrifugo mycelium-infected wood were attached separately to specially designed window traps in four old-growth spruce forests in northern Sweden. Empty traps and traps with sterilised wood were used as controls. We found no significant differences in the species richness or abundance of saproxylic beetles between the control and sterilised wood and the fungal substrates. However, two abundant species showed significant preferences for one substrate type. The bark beetle Dryocoetes autographus preferred E rosea mycelium-infected wood and the rove beetle Lordithon lunulatus preferred fruiting bodies of F pinicola. The results indicate that some species do discriminate between volatiles emitted by different polypore species and also between volatiles emitted by the sporocarps and mycelia from the same species. Our data indicate a hitherto unknown interdependence between D. autographus and F rosea. We conclude that present knowledge on interactions between beetles and wood-decaying fungi is limited and further studies are needed to enhance our ability to design appropriate conservation strategies in the forest landscape. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Published in

Forest Ecology and Management
2006, Volume: 237, number: 1-3, pages: 335-341
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

SLU Authors

• Löfroth, Therese

  • Department of Animal Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Hjältén, Joakim

  • Department of Animal Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2006.09.056

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/9807